stuffaboutminneapolis: Opus Development to turn old Ritz Hotel...

On Friday, Opus Development closed a deal to redevelop the block at 4th Avenue and Nicollet Mall that has been a parking lot since the demolition of the Ritz Hotel more than 25 years ago. The Minnetonka firm said it would build a 30-story tower with 369 apartments on it.

The rectangular-shaped building will be distinguished by a series of undulating balconies with glass rails that create a wavelike pattern that is similar to Aqua, an award-winning 82-story skyscraper in downtown Chicago.

Ernesto Ruiz-Garcia, design director for the Opus AE Group, said the undulating shape of the balconies will create a visual texture that will change based on your point of view.

“The interactions between the balconies create a geometric pattern that will become more prominent the closer you are to the building,” he said. “The rest of the design is intentionally reserved so that it doesn’t compete with the balconies.”

Maybe now this corner of 4th and Nicollet won’t be a sheet of glare ice every March!